Erlotinib efficacy and cerebrospinal fluid concentration in patients with lung adenocarcinoma developing leptomeningeal metastases during gefitinib therapy.

Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 67(6):1465-9 (2011) PMID 21274533

We have treated patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who developed leptomeningeal metastases (LM) during gefitinib therapy, and then found symptomatic improvement following treatment change to erlotinib. Based on this experience, we wondered whether erlotinib could be detected in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) when it was used for NSCLC patients with LM. This study was conducted to determine erlotinib concentrations in CSF and assess responses to erlotinib in patients with NSCLC developing LM during gefitinib therapy.